


Ningyo

by IriomoteYamanekoNokomis



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Animagus, Boats, M/M, mermaid, merman, scales - Freeform, tail
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-28
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-07-10 19:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 21,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7003801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IriomoteYamanekoNokomis/pseuds/IriomoteYamanekoNokomis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco is one lucky guy, or so people say. He should be dead, but he survived the boat explosion. The only clues he has is a dented door, and the last thing he remembered before waking up in the hospital. Was that a dolphin's tail he saw?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

'The whole boat shook causing Draco to loose his footing and smack his head on the nearest cabinet, blacking out for a few moments. When he came to, the water had started to fill the sinking boat. He rushed toward the door, but it wouldn't budge. He tried looking for something that could probably break the window.

Nothing.

The window could not be broken and the door was stuck, with the rising water up to his thighs now he was panicking. The more Draco tugged, the more desperate he got. Soon, all that was left was few short inches that allowed him to have his last breathe before the water enveloped him.

Draco half floated, half sat in the water that surrounded him. Darkness was already covering his vision from the lack of oxygen.

_**Bang!** _

_**Bang!** _

_**Bang!** _

Sluggishly, Draco turned his head toward what he assumed the source of the noise was. He saw a large, green tail swim past the now open door way before he lost consciousness.

* * *

"In local news today, a young man was found by ocean police floating by what seemed to be an explosion." The news woman was being handed a piece of paper by one of the camera crew. "The young man, we have now found out to be known as Draco Malfoy, was flown to St Mungo's where he is being evaluated. Police will not release the condition of Mr. Malfoy."

"But, it seems the wreckage Mr. Malfoy was floating by, was actually of his very own boat. Authorities say that the boat Mr. Malfoy was on didn't seem to explode by accident but they will not release any further information. On further note…"

The door handle jiggled and the black haired man sitting on the couch turned off the TV. A boy with wild black hair was taking off his sandy shoes at the front door. The black haired man launched himself from the couch to the boy's arms.

"Harry! I was so worried!" Harry patted the man's head, sighing.

"Relax Sirius, I made sure to call you. Just like I promised." Harry guided his distressed godfather back to the couch.

"Why did you do it? You know that was dangerous! What if they had found you? If your parents were alive they would have skinned me!" the man started pacing making Harry's headache ache even more.

"Sit back down Siri! I'll explain exactly what happened." The man grabbed a couch pillow and hugged it to chest as he took deep breaths to steady his racing heart. Green eyes took note of his somewhat calm godfather and begun his tale.

"Ok so I took my boat to Mako Island to blow off some steam. After I took a nice swim with the pod of dolphins that were passing through I decided I would sun dry. Just as I gained back my feet I heard the loudest BOOM ever. I looked around and saw some smoke going up to the air."

"I was curious to find what was going on so I dived into the sea and swam to where the smoke was. I never got more than a mile close. That was when I noticed the boat was the Spring Water. I could believe it, it was Malfoy's boat and it was on fire. I may not know the guy, but I didn't want him to drown. As I watched the boat sink I saw no sign of Malfoy. I even did a complete 360, but nothing."

"You mean he was still in there?" Sirius asked, with the curiosity of a toddler at story time.

"I figured that when I saw no sign of him on the surface. So I swam down toward the boat carefully looking at the windows trying to seem where he was at. That was when I saw him back to me struggled to open the door and the water already to the neck. I swear he was already unconsciousness, so he didn't see me as I whacked the door open with my tail, swam in there and took him to the surface."

"As soon as he reached the surface he coughed up whatever water he swallowed. I hauled him up to a piece of driftwood and waited till some help arrived before I swam back to safety." All you could see of Sirius now was his eyes from behind the pillow and they were zoning out on the living room table.

"So, are you okay?" Sirius asked.

"I'm fine, Siri. I was in and out and no one saw me."

"Well, Harry I got to hand it to you. You did a brave thing to risk your life helping Malfoy. I'm proud of you, but proud or not you can't go into the ocean for the next few weeks." Harry stood up in protest.

"Why!"

"Think about it, Harry, if there are cops looking into the boat explosion that means they would be in the water looking at the sunken boat to figure out what triggered it. It's too risky for you." His godfather had a point, but that didn't make him any happier about it. The ocean was a part of him, just like he was a part of the ocean.

"Now, Harry I want you to promise me you will not go into the sea until this all dies down." Harry sat crossed legged pouting.

"Harry, I can't go to my business trip tomorrow if you don't promise me." Harry sat there for a few seconds before finally agreeing.

"Wonderful! Okay, I left you emergency phone numbers on the fridge. There is some money in the cookie jar as usual. And there are plenty of leftovers in the fridge to last the week. Now, I want you to go straight to bed we can't have you missing your second week of school and I need to have time to see you off before I head to the airport."

They said goodnight to each other as they went to their own bedrooms. Harry prayed everything go well in school tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Very loosely based on H2O. I hope you enjoyed!


	2. Chapter 2

Draco never thought in his whole life he would be excited to go school. Anything to get out the hospital, the white walls and the antiseptic smell was enough to drive anyone to the edge. Three days after the incident, and he was finally free of police, doctors, nagging nurses. The reporters backed off probably because his father bribed them.

"Oh Draco, honey, I was so worried about you." Pansy Parkinson clung onto Draco's arm. Both Draco's and Pansy fathers were college buddies so they hung out a lot when they were kids.

"Parkinson, let the guy have at least one day back without you clinging to him. Good to see you alive and kicking." Blaise and Draco were best friends since they were in diapers. He was one of the many people who can keep him sane with Pansy Parkinson clinging to him every moment.

"But, I was just so happy that he is healthy and back in school." She pouted, but thankfully detached herself from Draco's form. "I have to go turn a paper in to Professor Filch anyway. I'll see you two at lunch."

"Seriously though, Malfoy you are one lucky guy. I mean that explosion could have killed you. Thankfully, someone saw the fire coming from your boat before it sank and notified the police. So, did they find out what was the cause?" Both walked toward the direction of their first class.

"They said that there was no evidence that anything on the boat was tampered with. Most likely it was caused from some spark near the fuel line. Police ended the investigation yesterday."

"So no one has sabotaged you. Good. I would be very disappointed to see you being crossed off on someone's hit list." Draco was going to bat his friend on head when someone crashed into him from behind. He closed is eyes waiting for impact but it never came. Arms were around his waist holding him safely. As soon as his feet were safely planted on the ground the arms released him.

"I'm sorry! I was in a hurry to get to class." Draco turned around to look at his 'rescuer'. The boy was short though just few inches shy from Draco's own height. He had the just out of bed look to him. His short black hair looked windblown, his clothes were wrinkly and one shoe was untied. But, that wasn't what got his attention. His eyes were the brightest green he had ever seen, somehow they reminded him of something…..

"That's fine. No harm, no foul."

"Oh, your that Potter kid. The one that moved here a week ago." Blaise chose that moment to speak.

"Yes, my name is Harry Potter." The boy extended his hand.

"Blaise Zabini." Draco rolled his eyes at how enthusiastically Blaise was acting. The poor boys shoulder looked as if it was going to pop out of it's socket.

"And I'm Draco Malfoy." Draco and Harry shook hands just as the bell rang causing the boys to press the need to get to class.

"Best get going. See you guys later!" Harry waved goodbye and headed the opposite direction to his class. Draco was still staring in the direction Harry went. He was snapped out of his trance quite literally, by Blaise.

"Enough, lover boy. I can't believe you haven't noticed the new kid till now."

"Shut up Zabini. So what do you know of him?" Draco turned to Blaise, the one who recognized the boy in the first place.

"His name is Harry Potter he started school two weeks ago and if we don't move 20ft down that way in say… 4 minutes we will be late for class. Come on, I'll gather more info and tell you the rest at lunch." Blaise ushered his friend into the classroom chuckling at the face Draco was making. His curiosity will have to wait till lunch.

\- Lunch-

Draco set down his tray and took a seat next to Blaise.

"Okay, Malfoy, I had my guy in the records department tell me a few more details but he wouldn't give Potter's file over."

"How is it you have a guy for everything?"

"Because I know a guy."

"Haha. Now forget about the file, what do you know?" Draco stabbed the pitiful excuse of macaroni and cheese debating on whether to eat it or not.

"Seems Potter is living with his godfather, Sirius Black."

"The owner of Black Industries?" Now that got Draco attention. Black Industries ran everything from shipping to pharmaceuticals.

"That's the one. Now hush, so I can tell you the rest. Potter's folks died in a car crash when he was about a year old however due to some legalities he was stuck in foster care till he was 10. This is apparently Potter's parents hometown so they moved here from Scotland three weeks back.

"On other note, he also has the same lunch hour as you and me. Aren't you lucky." Draco slapped Blaise upside the head. Draco's eyes locked unto the boy of their conversation. He was chatting to the Lovegood girl while waiting their turn in the lunch line.

 

* * *

 

 

"He is staring you know. What has Green Eyes done to get Malfoy's attention?" Luna played with her hair giggling.

"Aw, bugger. I didn't want to catch his eye."

"It wouldn't matter, sooner or later." She skipped to where the trays were held, grabbed two and handed one to Harry's. With their recently purchased lunch in hand they headed to an empty table Luna humming along the way.

"You're going to have to give it a chance." Harry stared at his friend trying to understand what she just said.

"Same ol' Luna just like when I met you in Scotland." Luna and Harry chuckled at the memory. Luna was visiting Scotland but somehow in trying to find her Aunt's house she discovered that she has missed the bus to town. According to Luna's story she had 5 miles before she herself decided she was lost. In order to locate the nearest town she climbed almost three stories in hopes to catch a glimpse of how much farther she would need to walk.

Harry and Sirius were driving through when a bag fell on the windshield. They braked it and jumped out of the car to stare at the brightly dressed girl sitting on a branch high above their heads. The first thing she said to them sounded ridiculous.

"The nargles here must really not like me."

Sirius and Harry offered her a ride to her Aunts house and along the way Harry and Luna bonded. Ever since that odd day they had been friends ever since. She also just so happened to live in the town he was thinking of moving to. It made his transition to school a whole lot easier with someone he knew.

The bell rang bringing them out of their thoughts alerting them that lunch was over. Harry went to go deposit his trash when Luna grabbed his arm.

"Oh Harry, I forgot to tell your horoscope. You may want that." Luna oddly enough handed Harry a polka dotted handkerchief. "Your horoscope this morning said 'be cautious with blue, friends found in odd places, Harry. Tata!" Harry stuffed the handkerchief down his pocket. Luna may act loony at times but after several of her 'horoscopes' coming true he learnt to trust her.

The day went smooth until Chemistry with Professor Snape. Something about the man was unnerving and it wasn't the way he stalked the students when they were mixing chemicals. Harry watched as the man stalked into room and began writing on the board.

"Due to a unfortunate mishap in one of my other classes. I am going to have to give you a reminder of the acids and bases and what NOT to mix. Turn to page 286 in your textbooks. And please do follow along. If I see any of you distracted be aware I will call on you to read a whole page aloud." Snape continued his lecture with no mishaps, students making sure they flowed along extra carefully.

Soon the bell rang to end the school day and students rushed to gather their stuff and head home. Harry was about to join the rest of the students piling out the door when his elbow tipped a beaker over spilling it's blue died contents on his sleeve.

Harry was in a panic, even though the rest of the student body had left he did not want to transform in front of the professor. He took off his shirt in haste and dabbed the moisture away with Luna's handkerchief. Suddenly there were pale hands with a towel rubbing vigorously at his arm.

"Honestly, how clumsy could you be Potter?" Once satisfied with his work the professor threw down his towel at the table and placed the shirt far from his body. Harry's mind and heart were racing. Why would the professor rush to help him when it was simply a tiny spill. He saw how carefully Snape placed the articles away from his own body. It could only mean one thing…

"How much do you know?" Snape actually looked startled.

"I have no idea what you are talking about. Did you know that blue liquid was died Clorox? It can be very irritating to the skin." Harry didn't believe him one bit. Clorox is irritating to skin, yes, that much was true but that was not a good reason for Snape to react like he did.

"Liar. How much do you know?" The man looked frazzled to say the least, but Harry knew the professor knew something about his secret. The man sighed as if relenting to something.

"Very well, it about time you know about what I know, please have a seat." Harry eased himself onto one of the stools waiting for the man to continue.

"I knew your parents and godfather in high school. Though I never got along with Potter or Sirius, Lily and I were the best of friends."

"And she told you." Harry heart was practically beating out of chest.

"Yes, in senior year Lily decided that she trusted me enough to show me her secret. One night almost two decadesago, she showed me her transformation from legs to a tail. I was shocked to say the least, but accepted her none the less. She explained everything to me that night."

"How the full moon made her act differently, what water or any liquid, could do, when she touch it. It made sense why she was always skittish around water. To her it was a relief to have someone who knew about her that could help her out from some peculiar situations."

"She herself was a full blooded mermaid. Since you are her son that indicates you are half mermaid, which means you, just like your mother, cannot be wet under any circumstances."


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Harry has to find his locket

Harry looked in the sock drawer.

It wasn't there.

He looked in the closet.

It wasn't there.

It wasn't underneath the bed, in the bathroom, _**heck**_ , he even dismantled the kitchen sink to find it.

His mother's locket was nowhere to be found.

He had been looking for an entire week and still the locket was missing. It was a simple oval shaped silver locket with an emerald in the center. Inside was a picture of his mother and father holding baby Harry. Sirius had given it to him as his 11th birthday gift and he couldn't believe he'd lost it!

It meant everything in the world to him and now it was missing.

When Harry couldn't find it in his room, he tore the house apart. There were clothes on the ceiling fan, sofa pillows strewn around, it was quite a sight. It was hard to believe the house once was clean and tidy with everything in place. Even after Harry searched the house, the locket was nowhere to be found.

Harry was ready to have a full blown panic attack.

_Okay Harry, think, when was the last time you saw the locket?_

_**Ring!** _

_**Ring!** _

"Hello?"

"Ah, Harry, you sound troubled. What's wrong?" Luna's dreamy voice sounded through the phone.

"Nothing Luna, I just lost something important to me, that's all."

"A bit of green in the blue I see. No, it's best you keep searching for it. You will find it eventually. We can go skating another time."

"Oh no! Luna I'm sorry, I forgot completely! I promise I will make it up to you."

"Just find your important something, Harry. Ickle Peedies like to hide things behind wood. Best place to start. I have to get going, so talk to you later, okay?"

"Alright Luna, 'til later." Harry stared at the phone, feeling guilty. Luna was his best friend, and she didn't even know his secret. He couldn't chance telling her though. Snape and Sirius knew, and that was two people too many.

Harry thought back carefully to last time he seen it around his neck.

_On Mako Island! That's right. Before the explosion with Malfoy!_

Happy that he finally somewhat remembered where he had last seen it, Harry prepared himself for tomorrow. He knew it was going to be a long day. He had a big area of ocean to cover if he ever wanted to find his precious locket.

_**Ring!** _

_**Ring!** _

" Hello?" Harry asked.

"Harry! How's it going?" Sirius asked.

"Oh hi, Siri. I'm doing well. How's your business trip going?"

"Boring, but successful. I should be heading back home Sunday afternoon."

"Great! I'll even cook you my famous lasagna you like so much." Harry began arranging the couch into its proper order.

"I can't wait to taste it, yours is better than any restaurant I know. Anyway what did you do at school today?"

"Not much, it's Friday, so the teachers seemed just as excited as the students." Harry moved from arranging the couch to pulling the t-shirt and jeans from the ceiling fan. He was contemplating telling Sirius about Snape. " Today I even found out that one of my professors was best pals with my mom. It's really hard to believe." Harry heard some coughing sounding through the phone. "Uhh… Sirius, are you alright?"

"Perfectly fine. I just choked on my soda that's all. So what is your professors name Harry?"

"It's Professor Snape. He went to school with you, mom and dad. Sirius he…." Harry was cut off by a voice in the background yelling at Sirius that he had five before the next meeting.

"Oh shoot! Harry, got to go. I don't know if I'll have a chance to call you before Sunday but we will talk about this when I get back okay?"

"That's fine Siri. Take care okay? See you later alligator."

"In a while, crocodile." Harry placed the phone back on the receiver and continued to clean up the mess he made.

\- with Draco-

"So, what you are saying is the last thing you remember before waking up in the hospital is a giant tail?"

"Yes, for the last time Blaise, it was a giant green tail." Blaise looked at Draco skeptically.

"It could have been a rare species of dolphin swimming by, you know." Blaise tried uselessly to convince his friend.

"It wasn't a dolphin, I know that much. The police report said something about the door being dented awkwardly from the outside. Other than that they didn't go into any details, and I remember an odd noise as well before going unconscious. I know I just need to look at the site."

"So, you want me to go with you to your sunken boat to see exactly what the police report says to be a dented door! A dumb door!"

"Something happened when I was underneath the water, and I need to find out what! Which means, I have to go to the site where it all started."

"But Draco, your boat sunk near Mako Island. It was given the name for a reason: it's surrounded by Mako Sharks! They have sharp pointy teeth that can tear through skin you know!"

"I'm perfectly aware of that. And that is why I need another person to be with me when I go down there."

Blaise contemplated fro a moment, before sighing in defeat.

"I know I can't change your mind when you're in one of these moods, but your lending me your raft for my date next week. And I'm staying in the boat while you go diving. All I am doing is keeping watch on any sharks nearby, and you have to be sure to resurface within fifteen minutes of diving."

"Sounds good to me. Let's get the gear ready, we are leaving tomorrow bright and early."

\- In the morning with Harry-

It had been several hours and Harry was beginning to lose hope. He sent a picture through telepathy to a local pod of dolphins. They sent him a negative response, but assured him that if they ever saw anything like it, they would call for him.

Harry politely thanked them and swam on his way. He was already tiring and his stomach was telling him that it was almost time for lunch. Harry returned to the sandy beach of the island, dragged himself passed the reach of the salty water and laid there to sun dry.

Heating up the water on his tail stung, so for today Harry decided to let the air and sun dry him up for once. Not long after Harry found out he was a merman (half, anyway) Harry discovered he could manipulate water. If he got angry enough he could heat it up so the water would evaporate. It helped a lot in tight situations. However, it kind of stung as the water dissipated.

Not long after he laid on the sand to dry, Harry felt the familiar sensation of his tail transforming into his legs. He shook the sand off of him and headed to the boat to get clothes. Even though Harry could keep his pants on during a transformation and conjure them back when he was in his human form, they always came out torn and ragged. Therefore changing in the 'buff' was a better choice.

Harry steered his boat to the 'Hogshead' a local diner with it's own private marina. He tied up his boat and headed in before lunch rush hour.

 

\- With Draco-

 

"I can't believe you overslept!" Draco fumed as he sat down with his meal.

"But Drake, it wasn't my fault."

Draco was unconvinced.

"So your fingers did not turn off the alarm clock or the phone when you knew full well we were supposed to leave early. I had to drive to your place and practically drag you out of bed. Your morning breath is not something I want to experience again." Draco basically ignored the blabber of Blaise's voice for enjoying the rest of his meal, or trying to at least.

"Oh, look who walked in." Draco turned around, following the path of Blaise's stare. His light blue eyes spotted none other than Harry Potter taking a seat in one of the booths at the other end of the diner. An idea came into his mind and he waved over Madame Rosmerta.

"Ah Draco, dear, I see you are doing well. What can I do for ya today?"

"Actually, I was wondering if you could put Potter's meal on my tab?"

The woman practically beamed.

"That is so sweet of you! It's nice that at least some people around here do some thoughtful things. The poor boy looks like he could use some perking up, too." She left to take another order from a nearby table.

It was true what Madame Rosmerta said. Potter didn't look like his usual upbeat self. He had his elbow on the table with his cheek in his hand, stabbing French fries in the ketchup with the other. The frown on his face really didn't do him justice, and so Draco decided to investigate the cause of the frown.

"Blaise, I'm going to go say hi."

"Go ahead I still have to finish up my mozzarella sticks, steak and potatoes, so I say you have about 10 minutes or so." Draco left his own booth to approach Potter's.

"Hey, Potter what's with the long face?" Potter was startled from his train of thought. Draco chuckled at how frazzled the boy looked.

"Mind if a take a seat?"

Harry motioned to the seat in front of him. "Oh sure, go ahead. What was that question again?"

"What's with the long face, Potter?"

Harry sighed sorrowfully. "I lost my locket."

"Huh? You can't just get a new one?"

"Oh, no. It was given to me by Sirius for my 11th birthday. Inside he even put a picture of my parents holding me as a baby."

"I would help you look for it but I am booked until much later in the afternoon."

"Oh, thank you so much for even considering helping, but I think I have a basic idea of where I may have left it. The idea was sweet though."

Thankfully, Blaise decided at that moment to interrupt them, or else Harry would have seen the pink decorating his cheeks.

"Come on, I would like to be back before dark, you know. Hi Harry, bye Harry." Draco rolled his eyes and watched his friend leave through the front door.

"I wish you luck in finding your locket. See you later."

Harry smiled, nodding.

"Thank you. Till later." The rest of Harry's lunch was spent in a much lighter mood than before. He even found out someone had paid for his lunch already.

"But, who paid for me?" he asked Madame Rosmerta.

"Why it was your friend, Draco Malfoy. You be sure to come back soon okay?"

_Maybe, he isn't the brat everyone makes him out to be._

His mood was definitely lighter by the time he got back to Mako Island. He figured he might as well head to the explosion site since it was the next likely place. Harry stripped to his birthday suit and allowed the water to do the rest. With his green tail now taking full function he dove deeper into the water to find the location of the boat.

It only took a few minutes to locate the site. There didn't look to be much left. The boat seemed intact at first glance, but Harry had seen plenty of sunken ships to know that one little nudge would cause that thing to collapse. Harry propelled himself to and fro in the debris, lifting a few of the heavier pieces of wood, and soon he only had a meager number left.

There!

He flipped the section to the side, and, laying there innocently on the sand, was his locket! He scooped it up and did cartwheels in celebration. He inspected it closer and saw it was still in the same shape he last saw it in, and the picture inside was still in his water proof cover. He also discovered the chain was broken, which has caused him to lose it in the first place.

Harry placed his precious locket back around his neck, making sure to double knot it. He could always go find a proper chain later. With his worry finally gone, Harry swam to some nearby reef to observe the wildlife before heading back home.

 

\- -With Draco -

 

"Well, this is the place. Your equipment should be in the corner." Blaise looked around the vast space of the ocean before taking out his Nintendo DS.

Draco inspected the equipment, checking to make sure there was plenty of oxygen in the tank. Everything seemed to be in order, except for one thing.

"Why is there pink thread holding the straps together?" Draco looked at the pathetic sewing technique on the black material.

"Oh, my little cousin wanted to practice her sewing, so she cut the straps and sewed them together."

"With pink thread? It barely even looks like it will hold the thing together."

"That's a girl for you."

The blonde eyebrow rose. "More like she retaliated."

Blaise stuck his hands up in surrender. "The box said it was a _ **flying**_ Barbie doll."

"I don't even want to hear it. This will have to do." Draco placed the tank securely on his back, making sure his flippers and mask were properly placed.

"Okay, so just be sure come up every fifteen minutes. If anything happens, I'll know if you don't surface within the fifteen minutes." Draco gave him the thumbs up and fell back into the water.

When the water cleared he saw the glorious view below the ocean. Not even 200 feet below the surface was the sunken boat. The area was pretty shallow, one good reason why ships avoided the area, not just because of the shark population.

Draco dove down to the site and soon located the door to the cabin. The whole boat looked battered but the door was banged up pretty good. True to the police report, the metal door was dented in an awkward angle. Draco, wanting to get a better look at it, swam inside. He overlooked few sharp, broken pieces.

One piece was extended far enough for it to tear through the tank's bag strap ripping the pink thread that held the strap together. He struggled with it for moment almost loosing his mouth piece. With only one good strap he quickly finished his inspection of the door so he could resurface.

He felt the swish of the water as some big animal swam quickly past him. The sensation made him turn around, startled. Draco looked around, seeing nothing that could have caused that push in the water.

A few minutes shy of the fifteen minute mark, Draco thought best to head back up to the surface. What Draco failed to notice until the last second was that when he had turned around, his tank had hit on the loose pieces of wall, causing it to become unsteady.

Draco knew he was in deep trouble, literally, when what was left of the boat collapsed within itself, trapping him inside. His mask was ripped off in the chaos. The salty water began to make his eyes sting.

The mask wasn't the problem, his oxygen was. The mouthpiece that connected him to his air supply was somewhere in the pile that was crushing him.

He was going to die. He was pinned underneath debris with no source of oxygen, a couple hundred feet underneath the water. Draco pinched his nose and covered his mouth in a desperate attempt to conserve his air a bit longer.

It was funny though, he was going to die in the same location where he almost died in the first place. Suddenly, the heavy weight on the legs was gone. His arms were torn from his face, and something was shoved in his mouth.

The mouthpiece.

The mouthpiece that was connected to his oxygen.

Draco took a much needed breath of air and quickly grabbed the one good strap of the tank, holding it tight. Disoriented, Draco floated in the ocean with only one flipper, not knowing up from down. He could have sworn he saw a glint of green somewhere to his right, but he didn't have time to even look with his hazy vision.

He felt arms encircle him and he was being pulled to the surface. He broke to the surface and didn't hesitate to call for Blaise. Even with salt water in his eyes, he could see the boat approach him. In his adrenaline he faintly felt the arms leave him as the boat approached.

Blaise heaved him onto the boat and looked at the ragged appearance of his friend.

" Draco! What the bloody hell happened? Are you alright?" Draco focused his shocked gaze to the worried face of his friend.

"I don't know."

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now I understand it is dangerous to dive alone, but for the sake of my story I did it this way. Also do not EVER dive with faulty equipment!


	4. Chapter 4

He shouldn't have done that.

But he couldn't let the poor guy just die.

Harry couldn't tell Sirius anything of what happened. At least, not until he absolutely knew that Draco was onto something. Perhaps Malfoy wouldn't remember what happened, he could have had quite a shock and everything blanked out from his memory.

So, while he had his mother's locket back, now he had two new dilemmas. Draco could possibly know his secret and in his haste to get away he left his boat on Mako Island. He was on such an adrenaline rush he didn't remember about the boat until after he had safely hidden himself in his house. Even though the house was right there on the ocean it did not ease his paranoia.

Speaking of locations, Harry had to find a way to get the boat back and manage to return before Sirius got home. The sun was already well past the horizon, so he had to hurry and get his boat back before Sirius arrived.

Making sure no one saw him, he ran toward the beach and dived straight into the water. Once underwater, he transformed into his other form and rushed toward the island. However, on his way there, he spotted the pod of dolphins that he had seen yesterday.

When they caught sight of him, they sent him a message that invited him to join them on their swim.

' _I must go to the Island Swimming with Sharks, I have left something there. I need to go get it.'_ The bigger dolphin one with a scar on his nose swam up to him.

' _You sure loose things very easily Ocean Child. We are going in that direction as well. Come. Swimming in a pod is much more enjoyable. I am Man-Shik.'_ Harry knew that a dolphin giving his name is truly and honor as they would have to consider you as a friend to do so. It was proper to give your name in return. It would mean to them you would be honored to be friends as well.

' _Very well I will join your pod till I get to my destination. Human's call me Harry.'_

' _Then we must give you a name of the sea. From now on your name of the sea will be Ting Feng. Do you approve?'_ Harry thought for a moment but he actually liked the name. He saw nothing to disagree about.

' _I approve of your choice'_

The dolphin nodded and swam beside Harry and other pod members played around trying to outdo each other by doing tricks. Harry floated his upper body just above the surface to watch Min-Shik do cartwheel above water.

He laughed, dove to follow his new friends and together they raced him to the Island.

' _Alas, we must part Ting Feng, come and swim with us soon?'_

' _Yes, that would be nice Min-Shik. May your hunting be always fruitful.'_

' _And the sea be always calm for you.'_

Harry parted ways with Min-Shik the rest went pretty smoothly. His boat was thankfully still on the shore despite it being high tide. He made it home before Sirius got there which gave him enough time to get dinner started.

 

* * *

 

 

Draco had spent all night thinking on what happened the day before. For one he knew there was something out there. What it was, however, was still a mystery, but something had saved him.

As the sun rose on the horizon he gave up on trying to sleep. He needed to go back to the site. He wasn't going diving this time; instead he was just going to take a look around at the scenery.

Draco left a message with one of the servants to tell his parents that he would be out all day, but he would be home in time for dinner. He packed up the boat and steered toward Mako Island.

He spent most of the morning driving around the island but he saw nothing out of the ordinary in the water. He didn't get close to the island since the shallow water near the island could strand him there and he would find no way home.

He stopped for lunch somewhere off from the Island and near the explosion site. His lunch was a simple ham and cheese sandwich with some lemonade. He wasn't a great cook, and he knew he could have asked one of the chefs to make something, but it was best to avoid useless questions.

He took out his binoculars to get a better view the area. Some trees had flowers blooming, displaying a multitude of colors. He turned so he had a decent view the waters and found himself a pod of dolphins to watch. To him they looked like they were playing with each other.

He had a fun time watching them do their flips and other tricks. He counted five of them in the pod, hold on, make that six.

But since when do dolphins have hair?

He looked closely and discovered it was a human swimming with the dolphins. The person had his back to him, so he couldn't see his face, but he could tell, even from this distance, that the figure was definitely male. Draco watched them interact until one by one disappeared beneath the waves, including the person among them.

The binoculars fell from his hands at the site he saw.

The person had a tail.

A _green_ tail.

 

* * *

 

"Harry! I'm home!" Harry threw himself at the man.

"Sirius! Welcome home!" Sirius was steered to the couch and fell onto it.

"I'm pooped. When's dinner?"

"It should be done and ready to serve in fifteen minutes. I'll get the table set up while you go get your bags unpacked." Harry left to go back to the kitchen leaving Sirius in the living room.

Fifteen minutes later they were enjoying dinner discussing how the meeting went. Harry decided now was the best time to broach a subject he had wanted answers for since Friday.

"Siri, do you know Professor Snape?" The poor man was trying to regain breath as he choked on his drink.

"Why do you ask Harry?"

"Well, He knew mom when she was younger and he said he knew you guys as well."

"I never thought I would even see the guy again. Yes, I've known him since we were in high school. We didn't get along very well, though." Sirius averted Harry's eyes as he continued to eat the lasagna.

"So why don't we invite him for dinner one day? I'm sure a few years of being apart settled your differences." Sirius slapped his hands on the table his cheeks turning a bright shade of pink.

"Bad idea."

"Why?"

"I'm telling you me and him had never gotten along. We will most likely tear each other to pieces."

"Nonsense, give him a chance, I'm sure you will see that time matures a person."

"I don't want to chance it, Harry. But he knows your secret right?" Harry nodded confirming his suspicions. "I'll think about it."

"Good."

 

* * *

 

 

Harry was utterly exhausted, the whole night he had been tossing and turning. He was too nervous at how the school week was going to go. He wanted to be as far away as possible from Draco, but at the same time he had to keep an eye on him to find out exactly what he knew.

"Harry, you sure you are alright?" Harry practically jumped at Luna's voice.

"I'm fine Luna. I see you got some new jewelry." Hary pointed to the brightly colored bottle caps tied on a string around her neck.

" I found my last piece yesterday and I rushed to make it before the magic ran out. For one it keeps those mean Nargles away and two if you collect ten and make it into jewelry it can bring good luck."

"Jewelry made of bottle caps?" he raised an eyebrow at the blonde.

"Is that what they are called? I think they are shiny." She then abruptly changed topics, as was her way. "I hear they are running today in gym, don't over work your self." Luna waved goodbye and entered her classroom.

As usual Luna was right about gym, the coach had them run 3 laps around the track in the blazing sun. Harry was avoiding all water fountains despite how thirsty he was. With his luck the water would end up splashing all over his face. He had to get ready for the class anyway. Maybe he could get a water bottle from the soda machine.

Harry's skin felt hot and he seemed a little dizzy but he ignored it, rushing to class.

"Hey Potter!" Harry saw Malfoy walking to him.

"Hello Malfoy. Hope you had a good weekend." Harry leaned on the wall using it as more of a support as the room spun a bit.

"Never better. So did you find your locket?" Harry reached into his shirt and pulled out the object of the conversation.

"I did. See?" Draco looked at it and whistled.

"Nice. I'm glad you found it." Harry tried to smile back but it must have not come out like he wanted it because Draco's smile turned into a frown.

"Potter you all right? You are looking a little pale." Harry meant to say something but as he opened his mouth the world gave an almighty lurch and he felt himself falling as blackness overtook him.

 

* * *

 

 

"Potter! Potter! Damn it, Harry answer me!" Draco held the lax body to him trying to shake him awake. Some students ignored what was going on and continued on to class, while others had stopped and were now crowding the hallway.

"What are you students doing crowding the halls? Get to your classes this instant!" Professor Snape gave the student body one good glare, causing them to disperse, before kneeling next to the boys.

"What happened here Draco?" The boy looked up at Severus, his grey eyes full of worry.

"I don't know one moment we were just talking and the next he collapsed." Snape looked at the unconscious boy, placing his hand on the child's forehead. His skin felt as if it was on fire and his lips were chapped so badly they had started to crack slightly. Snape knew instantly what was going on.

"Let's get him to the nurse's office." Draco carefully lifted Harry into his arms, one arm around his shoulders the other supporting his knees, cradling him to his chest and began walking hurriedly to the nurses office.

"Put him on one of the beds." Snape saw no sign of the nurse, she must have been absent today and good thing too. This was not a normal case, however it may look to the casual observer.

"Try to get him awake and sit him up." Snape was digging through cabinets and found some towels and bottles of water.

"How is he?" he asked, taking his findings back to the boys. Draco was half up on the bed with Harry's head on his shoulder.

"He comes in and out of consciousness, but not long enough to say or do anything." Snape opened a bottle of water, putting a straw up to Harry's lips.

"Potter, I need you to try and drink some water, can you do that?" The boy fluttered his eyelashes. Loosely wrapping his lips around the straw, Harry began sipping the drink slowly. After the second bottle Harry skin felt cooler and the flushed look had disappeared.

"Draco, see if you can get him to drink at least one more bottle. I need to call his Guardian." Snape left Draco with Harry to locate the phone. He didn't know if Black had even changed his number, but he hoped luck was on his side.

_**Ring.** _

_**Ring.** _

"Hello?" The voice didn't sound any different despite of the years.

"Black, it's Snape."

"What? How the hell do you even know my number after all these years?"

"Never mind that, I need you to pick up Harry at school."

"What happened? Is Harry all right?"

"Just get down to the school, _now_." Before Sirius could say anything else he disconnected the call.


	5. Chapter 5

Snape approached the two boys on the bed.

"I managed to get him a whole bottle before he fell back asleep. What's wrong with him?" Draco laid Harry on the bed taking a seat.

"He is anemic and he overworked himself. He should be fine with some help." Snape lied, but it wasn't far from the truth.

"Oh."

"I think it is time to get to class."

"What about you?" The blonde protested.

"This is my free period, I can watch over him till his Guardian comes and picks him up. Here is your hall pass, now get going." Draco looked to the boy on the bed once more before resigning to leave.

"Very well, Professor."

Draco grabbed his discarded bag and left the Nurses Office. As he left he saw a black haired man in tan shorts and a white tank top run passed him. He didn't think anything of it as his mind was still on Harry.

Sirius rushed past a student and headed straight for the nurse's office. Despite the years the school hasn't changed much.

"Where's Harry?" Sirius burst through the door starting the man in black.

"Black!" Severus said in whispered tones. "Quiet down. You don't want the whole student body to find out what is going on, do you?"

Sirius looked at Snape clearly since entering the room. The man was still stunning after all these years. Black hair framed his face and he had a slight tan to him, not as pale as he was when he was younger.

"Snape? Long time no see." Snape scoffed and walked into the room, motioning for Sirius to do the same. Sirius saw his godson bundled up on the infirmary bed, and other than looking a little paler than usual, he looked physically fine.

"What's going on Snape? Why did you call me about Harry?"

"Black, the boy was stupid enough to get himself dehydrated. The side effects were even worse considering the full moon is in a couple of days." Sirius collapsed in a chair beside Harry's bed and rubbed his temples.

"I have told him time and time again that he has to bring a water bottle to school. He looked perfectly fine this morning, but he tends to hide things to not make me worry. The irony of it is though, that it makes me worry even more." Sirius sighed and put his face in his hands.

"I made him drink a few bottles of water we had here, it's enough to get him home. If all else fails get him in the bath tub. Is he usually this weak before the full moon?" Snape asked.

"No, he is more spaced out at times but he is only like this on the days of the full moon. Very lethargic, dizzy, he doesn't even leave his bed. We board up the windows so he doesn't catch a glimpse of the moon. Last time he saw the moon he dashed into the ocean and I couldn't find him till the next day. He said he couldn't remember anything of what happened. It was the moon took hold of him and he let his instincts take over."

"Can't he resist the lure of the full moon?"

"No, though it just depends I guess. Some times are better than others, mood swings, urges, sometimes he is pain, trying to resist it." Sirius grey eyes looked sadly at the boy on the bed.

" I don't know how you found out Snape, but…thank you." Sirius gave Snape a sincere smile. Snape's cheeks turned pink but he coughed trying to erase the picture from his mind.

" You better hurry and get Harry out of here. I have to get ready for my next class and I don't think you want the students to see you carrying Harry out."

" Snape do you think…? Um…"

"Out with it Black. I don't got all day. "

"Do you think you can stay over on the night of the full moon? You see I need all the help I can get." Sirius looked kind of childish with his forefingers together staring at the floor. Snape looked at he man thinking of the pro's and con's.

"Very well, I'll stay over that night. You live on number 13 Grimauld right?"

"That's right."

"Then I'll see you there." As Snape walked out of the room Sirius smiled wistfully at the man's back.

Harry turned in his bed, burying himself in his pillow, groaning loudly as he punched a fist into the soft down. He finally managed to unbury his head from the soft fabric and glared blearily at his clock.

In bold green numbers, the clock read 2:15pm Mon. Harry stared at it for a moment before scrambling out of bed. He should have been in school not in his undershirt and boxers at home! Harry sat back down in bed after getting doused with a dizzy spell.

He grabbed his head trying to remember how he even ended up here. The door opened startling Harry from his thoughts.

"Oh Harry, I'm glad you're up. I brought you some water." Sirius walked into the room holding a pitcher full of water and a cup. Harry grabbed the offered cup, gulping it down with vigor.

"Take a breather, Harry. The water isn't going to disappear."

"Sorry, I really didn't notice how thirsty I was." Sirius refilled the cup and its contents disappeared just as quickly. After drinking more than half of the pitcher Harry settled himself back unto the bed covering himself back in his warm blankets.

"Ah, that hit the spot. Say what happened anyway?"

"Snape found you. Thankfully, he knew why you fainted."

"What about Draco? Was he there?" Sirius raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I don't know who you are talking about. The only people in here were you and Snape when I got there."

" He was the last person I saw before blacked out. I'll find out what happened tomorrow."

"Harry, we need to talk." Sirius took a seat at the edge of the bed.

"If this is about almost dehydrating myself, I'll be more careful."

"Harry, this is serious. If Snape wasn't there who knows what could have happened. I know you say I don't have to worry about you, but if you do stunts like this how can I not worry? So close to the full moon and you're overworking yourself. I think its best if you don't go to school till after the full moon has gone." Harry sat up in the bed.

"Why? I have homework I need to complete for my classes not even including the class work. I could just stay home the day of the full moon."

"I'm afraid not this time, it seems the moon upcoming made you weaker than usual this time. It's two more days anyway, besides Luna can come and drop off your school work so you don't get behind." Harry knew it was pointless to argue when Sirius got in these modes. Sirius knew how important school was to him, so to suggest something like this, Sirius must have really freaked out. Besides a few days break could be just what he needed.

"All right, I'll agree this once." Harry relented.

Draco joined the throng of people surging toward the exit of the school. He finally managed to free himself from the mass and made his way to his locker.

He thought for a second before deciding which books he would take and what he would leave. Zipping up his back pack he noticed the Lovegood girl stopped not far off from him.

Hmm… I wonder if I should visit Harry today?" The pale blonde put a finger to her chin looking up at the ceiling. "The wubbadubbas aren't attacking at this moment, so I have few hours at least. It's enough time to check up on him."

Draco had wanted to see Harry ever since he heard that his godfather had picked him up early. The problem was that he had no idea where the boy lived. This could be his one opportunity to see the boy.

"Excuse me?" Draco tapped the girl's shoulder. The blond girl turned her usual dreamy look showing confusion.

"Yes?"

"I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself my name is Draco Malfoy. I couldn't help but to overhear that you were heading to Potter's house?" Luna giggled at Draco's show of nervousness.

"Luna Lovegood and yes I was going to visit Harry. He went home early today and I want to visit to ward off the wubbadubba's."

Draco had heard rumors that the girl was a little odd, that she talked about things that didn't even exist. Despite the oddity she seemed nice, there was also the fact that she happened to be Potter's friend who happens to know where the boy lived.

"Since you are going over there, do you mind if I come along?" The girl turned from dreamy to serious and she was looking straight at Draco. To Draco he felt like the girl was looking straight into his soul. It was nerve racking. Suddenly the dreamy look was back on her face and she smiled.

"Why not? I'm sure Harry would want all the company he can get. Getting cooped up in the house is not something Harry likes to do often. Come we will walk to his house."

"Walk? Why do we need to walk my car is just out front."

"Harry's house is only a few minutes away. It's by the ocean not too far."

"That is like a twenty minute walk. I can drive you know." The girl gave him a good stare before sighing in defeat.

"There is nothing wrong with walking you know, and Harry usually likes to look at the flowers on our way home. Well, where is your car?" Draco motioned for her to follow him to the parking lot. The drive was quiet, both content to just listen to the radio.

"Turn here. It's the blue house the last one on this street." Draco parked in front of 12 Grimmauld Street. The house was no where as big as Draco's mansion sized one but it was big enough for the average sized family to live comfortably.

They approached the door when Luna suddenly stopped in her tracks Draco stopping along with her. Luna had a far off look in her eyes before they went wide in surprise

"Oh no." she gasped slightly, " The wubbadubbas are attacking my house." Draco raised his eyebrow.

"What are you talking about Lovegood?" Luna looked to the point of crying.

"Harry's house is safe at the moment the wubbadubba's are at my house and they have taken my rubber ducky hostage! I'm sorry Draco you're going to have to see Harry alone today. I need to negotiate with those conniving wubbadubba's."

"Wait a second, I'll take you to your house." She shook her head widely with a look of horror on her face.

"No, they will take you too! It's alright you visit Harry, my house is on the street before this one." The blonde girl waved goodbye, running down the street leaving Draco stunned on the door step.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm transferring my stories from FF. I will be posting in both sites but it will take a few days to get everything over to here.


	6. Chapter 6

Draco was trying to figure out what had happened but he kept coming up blank. Perhaps it was best no to know what went through that girls head. Reality was bad enough.

Draco walked the steps to the door and after a moment's hesitation, rang the doorbell. He had half the mind to go off running. He had no idea as to why he was in front of a house of a boy he barely knew. That thought had no time to take action before the door opened revealing an older male who Draco could guess was probably Potter's godfather.

"Yes? Can I help you?"

"Hello, sir. I'm Draco Malfoy, I heard Potter went home early so I thought maybe I could visit him and see how he is doing?" Black haired man's expression changed from seriousness to absolute glee. The smile really suited the man better than the frown he previously held.

"Oh, do come in! Harry would love to have some company right now. He really doesn't like to be cooped up for too long even though he supposed to be resting. Perhaps you can convince him to stay in bed. I'm Sirius Black Harry's godfather, it's always a pleasure meet a friend of Harry's."

Draco's arm felt like it was about to pop out of the socket from the force of the handshake.

"Harry's room is the first one on the right. Feel free to yell if you need anything. I'll be on the patio watering the orchids if you need me." Draco watched the man walk past the sliding door before heading toward Potter's room.

Draco looked around the living room and hallway as he passed. On one of the hall tables, he saw pictures of what looked to be an older version of Potter holding a red haired woman that had vibrant green eyes. Green eyes, that looked to be just as expressive as Potter's was. Draco can only assume they must have been Potter's parents.

He looked at the other pictures on the table. There were a few more of the couple and even one of them holding a black haired baby, who was most likely Potter himself. He looked briefly at the other picture frames, none seemed out of the ordinary so he did not pay them any special attention.

Until, that is, he saw one almost hidden by the other pictures, way in the back that frame looked different than the others. It was old and shabby, pieces of the paint were chipping off, and by the way it was worn, Draco could tell it must have held some kind of sentimental value.

The picture inside the frame was shocking to say the least. Behind the thin glass was a younger, scrawny looking Potter standing next to his godfather. The looks on both their faces were just so content; you can just see the joy that was on their faces. As he continued to walk to his destination, Draco contemplated how he wanted to figure out how he, himself, would put that same smile on Potter's face. Draco soon arrived at Harry's door and steeled himself to knock on it. He finally raised his fist.

**Knock.**

**Knock.**

When there was no answer, Draco opened the door just a crack. Inside he heard a groan.

"Sirius, for the fifth time I told you I am feeling fine." Draco opened the door wider and spotted a moving bundle on the bed.

"I doubt I look anything like Black, Potter." The bundle in the middle of bed rose giving it the illusion of a ghost. In a rush, the bundle squirmed clawing at the sheets until finally a black mop of hair appeared. The sight, to Draco, looked cute.

"Malfoy!" Harry exclaimed in wonderment. "What are you doing here?" he continued to question as he finally got out of his nest of blankets. Draco chuckled at the site of Harry. The black hair was in total disarray and all that was visible was his head.

"After I left you in the nurse's office with Professor Snape I heard you left school early."

"Yeah, I really didn't feel well and it looks like Sirius is keeping me out for the rest of the week. He's very over protective." Harry peaked underneath the sheets and looked at Draco with a pink hue on his cheeks.

"Uh…. If I knew I would have company I would have at least gotten dressed."

"Don't worry about it we are both men, right? Look, I'll turn around and you can change." Draco turned facing the wall, leaving Harry no room for argument. Draco heard shuffling and he saw movement in the corner of his eye.

He noticed there was a mirror on the other corner of the room. Draco knew what he was doing was inappropriate. Draco couldn't help but watch the green-eyed boy move out from underneath the covers. The black and red polka dot boxers and white undershirt didn't help much on Draco's imagination. He could see a beginning of a formation of a six-pack underneath the shirt and leg muscles flexing as the boy hurried to put on some proper clothing.

From what he just saw, Potter did work out despite his skinny form. The boy had a swimmer's build and he hid it well underneath all the clothes he wore.

Pity.

Just as Harry finished Draco made sure to be staring back at was supposed to be his spot on the wall.

"Done! You can turn around now." Draco faced Harry once more, however, this time the boy was just making the bed.

"There, now we can both have a seat on the bed. Exactly how did you even know where I lived?" Harry positioned himself Indian style at the foot of the bed in order to face the now stiffly sitting blonde.

"I overheard Lovegood talking about visiting you, so I asked her if I could join her."

"If she is the one who was coming to visit, why isn't she here?"

"I asked that to myself too actually. It seems before we even got to your door she was ranting on about wubbledoobas or something like that." Harry looked to be deep in thought.

"Actually the proper term would be wubbadubba's. They are one of the many creatures that only Luna can see. Don't worry about it; it's just how Luna is." Draco nodded not knowing what to say about that.

"Potter, what the fuck happened to you today?" Harry went rigid avoiding all eye contact with Draco, his mind going at rapid speed to produce a lie.

"Yeah… it's just gym overworked me that's all. Can you please pass me that cup of water?" Draco passed the cup on the nightstand over to the extended hand.

"Snape said you were anemic. Does that have anything to do with it?" Harry right now wanted to hug the professor for making up the excuse.

"In a way, yes. Sirius wanted me to take something other than gym but I wanted to be just like any normal student. Some days are just harder than others." Draco nodded his understanding, looking at his watch.

"Well, I'm glad to see your doing better, but it looks like my time is up. My mother will be back today from her visit with her cousin and she will want me home when she arrives. After the incident, she has been a little bit overbearing. Will you be at school tomorrow?" Harry chuckled running a hand through his hair.

"With Sirius around and on my case, I seriously doubt I'll be going anywhere for awhile." Harry replied.

"Then I'll see you in a few days, I guess. I'll be sure to tell Lovegood how you were since she missed out. I'll walk myself out, take care Potter."

"Will do. Thanks for coming Malfoy."

"Anytime Potter."

Severus Snape had no idea why he even agreed to come to Black's house in the first place. He had to remind himself repeatedly that he was doing this because of Lily's kid.

Whatever slight inkling of a feeling he had for Black years ago was in the past. He had to remind himself repetitively. Snape stood in front of the door waiting for anyone to answer it. The sight he saw was something he did not expect, not in the least.

"Snape! You're right on time." Snape stood in the doorway looking at the atrocious outfit that Black was wearing.

"What are you standing there for? Come in, come in." Sirius grabbed the arm of the bewildered man bringing him in the house.

"Black, why are you doing hopping around in a sleeping bag? Since we live in a tropical climate I know it tends to get a little hot, but why precisely is it the temperature freezing in this house?"

"Harry turned down the air declaring it was hot. The only thing I have at my disposal at the moment is this sleeping bag. It's big enough for two." Sirius shook himself in the sleeping bag trying to show that there was in fact room.

Glancing at Snape's raised eyebrow, Sirius pouted and instead grabbed a blanket from the couch handing it to Snape.

"All right, I do have blankets, though I doubt they will be very warm." Snape grabbed the offered blanket and wrapped it around his already freezing shoulders. With the blanket securely on his shoulders, he settled himself on the couch.

"Maybe we should check on Potter?"

"He's sleeping right now. The whole day he was just in the tub just sighing up to the ceiling. After he turned down the air he decided he was going to sleep. It's best just to lets him sleep when he is like this." Sirius burrowed further into his sleeping bag, zipping it up only leaving his head visible.

"You look absolutely ridiculous."

"Better to look ridiculous than be a popsicle." Snape didn't say anything out loud but mentally he agreed with Black the blanket he had on him helped a bit but he still felt the cold temperature through it.

" How about a crossword puzzle to pass the time?" Sirius suggested.

Harry turned in his bed, frowning. The voices down the hall were becoming louder bringing him back to the land of the living. Finally having had enough Harry slammed his hands on his bed pushing himself up. Sitting up he growled stuffing his bare feet into some sippers before exiting his room.

Using his ears, he stomped his way to the living room where the voices were coming from.

"Shut the fuck up! Get over yourselves! Kiss and make up, or whatever the fuck you do! Just shut the hell up or I'm going to lock you both out of the house! I'm trying to sleep here!" Harry left them and walked back to the comfort of his own bed.

"Well, that could have gone better." Said Sirius.

"Honestly Black, why don't we grab a dictionary? It'll be sure to tell us how asinine is really spelled."

"I still say it's with a 'cy' not a 'si'. The only dictionary we have in this house is in Harry's room. You and I both know its best not to disturb him right now."

"So what to you suggest we do?"

"Google!" Sirius hopped up from the couch to head to his study. He walked/hopped his way quietly passed Harry's room to his study at the back of the house.

Severus looked over Black's shoulder trying his hardest to stay focused on the computer screen. The man somehow made odd faces when he was looking for things on the internet.

" Ok, so your right Snape, asinine is spelled with a 'si' instead of a 'cy'."

"Because of your lack of reasoning we had to go all the way to your office, and turn on a computer to on the internet just to find a simple word." Sirius was angry at the sarcasm thrown at him and got to his feet to protest.

"Wait just a-" Sirius somehow forgot he was in a sleeping bag that just happened to be slippery on the wood floor of the office. Without his feet having a good grip he tried to at least cover his face for the fall.

He was caught by something soft he didn't dare open his eyes just yet. With his right hand he gingerly touched what he was laying on, he carded his hand through what his brain registered was hair.

"Black stop poking and prodding me, now get off." Sirius' hand quickly moved. He opened his eyes and they widened when he found himself looking at the side of Snape's face.

"You actually caught me?" Snape turned his face to the side so Sirius wouldn't see the pinkness of his cheeks.

"Not really you tripped me so I came down with you. Now get off your elbow is digging in my gut." Sirius couldn't get off of Severus from his position so the only solution was to roll off the taller man.

"That's better, now lets back to the living room." Severus got up and brushed himself off making sure the blanket was back around his shoulders.

"I may need help getting up. I'm kind of stuck here." Sirius motioned to his lying state on the floor. Snape rolled his eyes and bent down to pick him up, bridal style.

"Uh… Snape I can walk you know. You don't need to carry me into the living room." Sirius blushed from his position.

"Yeah, you think that and then you'll up tripping your clumsy self, again. I think this is safer for both of us." Snape sat Sirius back onto the couch and proceeded to straighten himself out. However, Sirius still had his fingers gripping Snape's shirt, and Snape failed to notice it. The poor man stumbled forward into Sirius.

Before they knew it, they were lip locked. At first, no one moved the shock still registering in their brains. Suddenly, Snape's arms that were once balancing himself were wrapping around the other causing both men to fall into the couch. Sirius hand moved from the shirt to Severus's hair bringing the lips even closer.

Tongues clashed each one fighting for dominance. They would have continued in the moment if it wasn't they weren't in desperate need of oxygen.

They looked at each other's flushed faces neither saying a word.

"Wow, I had my suspicions, but I never thought they were true." Both men jumped and turned toward the sound of the voice. Standing in the middle of the living room holding a jug of water was Harry looking dead tired. Snape scrambled off Sirius both trying and failing to compose themselves.

Harry yawned and strolled back to his room, looking indifferent despite the situation that just occurred in front of him.

"I think it's about time I leave, the sun is about to rise anyway." Snape got off of Sirius, gathering up his stuff.

"Maybe your right, I'll see you around?" Neither wanted to talk about what just occurred despite their bodies still wanting more. Snape opened the door not daring to look back for fear of wanting to grab the man and snog him senseless once more.

All Snape gave was a stiff nod and shut the door behind him.

 

* * *

 

 

-At the kitchen table that morning-

 

"You know Siri, I had the strangest dream last night."

"What about?" Siri said between bites.

"I had a dream that you and Snape were almost getting it on. On the couch." Sirius choked on his eggs reaching for the lifesaving orange juice.

"What you getting so worked up for Sirius? It was only a dream." Harry chuckled at his father figure's reaction.

"Yeah… " Sirius continued to eat his breakfast in silence trying to avoid his wards eyes.


	7. Chapter 7

They finished their breakfast in silence. Harry was wondering if it was something he said… Sirius got up and was putting their dishes in the sink to be washed later. Harry got up and quickly grabbed his backpack while his godfather's back was turned.

He was going to attempt to sneak away and go to school. He was almost to the front door when Sirius caught him. "And where do you think you're going?"

"To school?"

"NO! You will march back upstairs and rest… And don't even think of moving a muscle for the rest of the day. Or you will stay here for the next 2 days. Do I make myself clear? " Sirius pointed to Harry's room with one hand and had his other on his hip. He was giving Harry this look of 'you better listen if you know what's good for you.'

Harry huffed and stomped to his room not saying another word. He knew Sirius meant well, but sometimes the man was so frustrating!

Sirius sighed looking at the fridge it was full but it lacked some of Harry's favorite snacks. It was well past the afternoon and he didn't have to worry about Harry sneaking out to go to school by then. But still, the boy hasn't left his room for anything. Sirius approached the door and knocked.

"Harry, I'm going out to the market is there anything you want?"

"I want mangoes with salt and sugar, Hoffman's milk chocolate covered strawberries, oh and coconut juice with pulp." Sirius smiled, it seems Harry had forgiven already for not letting him go to school for the day.

Making a mental list of what he needed, he grabbed his keys and headed out the door.

 

* * *

 

 

Severus juggled his groceries in his hands trying balance the weight. If he had planned to buy this many supplies then he should have parked his car closer to the store instead of behind it. As he walked down the sidewalk he heard footsteps behind him. He stalled for a second to pretend to juggle his bags and the footsteps paused as well. Several times this happened and he knew someone was following him.

He was right when he rounded a corner and found a gun to his face. He cursed as he glared at the smirking man.

"Excuse me, I need to get passed you, sir." The thug chuckled.

"Sorry, old man, I want your wallet. Hand over the cash."

"I have none. I just went shopping as you can see." The thud turned from pleased to pissed off in a matter of seconds. With one on one he could probably win, but he was up against a gun that was aimed and ready to shoot at him.

He was in trouble.

Severus dropped the bags to the ground and raised his hands in surrender.

"Let's not be too hasty, we can work this out." The man scoffed and cocked the gun. He was about to attempt to remove the gun when a massive black thing jumped from the bushes. That black blur turned out to be a black dog and a big one to boot.

The creature wasn't snarling and showing it's teeth to Snape instead it seemed to look straight at one holding a gun.

"Holy shit! That's a big mother fucker!" The beast snarled and stalked forward. The dog leaped and bit the thugs hand just as he fired a round. Whether the bullet hit it's target the dog didn't show it. It continued to tear at the man's arm until the gun was let go and it was tossed not far from Severus.

Snape watched the scene unable to tear his away. It's was like watching a train wreck happening in front of him. The dog was definitely the train as it was winning. With a girlish scream the thug stood up from the ground and high tailed it out of there with a big chuck of his pant leg missing.

Snape could have sworn he heard the dog laugh, but he didn't dwell on it.

Right then he was busy trying to find a way to escape. He would have if he didn't trip and fall on a wet piece of ground.

_Of all times…_

He watched in horror as the black dog approached him. He knew if the thing attacked he was done for, as he had no possible way to defend himself. He made no sudden movements afraid that could provoke the dog. He shut his eyes not wishing to view the possible teeth that could tear into his flesh.

Instead of teeth at his throat he felt something cold and wet at his collar bone. Severus gasped, opening his eyes. The supposed stray was sitting calmly facing him tail wagging with its tongue hanging out of his mouth.

At that moment, it just looked like any playful dog instead of the vicious beast he just witnessed. Both beast and man stared at each other. Those blue-grey eyes looked familiar.

"I guess I should thank you for saving my life." The dog jumped onto Severus licking his face in appreciation.

"Enough already," Severus laughed as the rough tongue tickled his face. " I would think it's safe to say that means you're welcome." Severus stood up and brushed himself off, though it was useless because his pants were ruined from his fall.

"I believe I bought some jerky, let me get my stuff in the car and I'll get you some." Severus gathered his thrown bags, leaving the dog sitting on the sidewalk and walked quickly to his car. It didn't take long to get himself back to the dog.

"Shit!" When Severus returned, the dog was lying on the floor with a puddle of blood by his hind leg. He had no idea how severe the wound was or even the exact location of it. Severus let his conscious get the better of him, he couldn't just leave the creature to die especially not after it saved his life.

One thing was for sure, it was going to be a rough night.

 

* * *

 

 

Harry stared at the ceiling, utterly bored. Sirius left over an hour ago and still had not come back home yet. He knew that he would take a while to get the things that he asked for because not all could be bought at the local market. He watched the clock for a few seconds before coming to his decision.

"I'm going for a swim."

The ocean felt so welcoming after being away from it so long. He twirled happily in the cool waters and then swam in the direction Mako Island. He looked around the island's waters but didn't spot the pod of dolphins he met the other day.

It was alright though, Harry always wanted to see if he could make a bag out of seaweed. Before, he had already tried a few that were to flimsy to be even put in a knot. Gathering up several different types of seaweed, he headed up to the surface, believing it would be easier to manipulate the plants there.

He settled himself on a flat rock that was off shore sorting through what seaweed could possibly work for him. Most weren't strong enough to hold a heavy weight, or even any weight at all. They were either to flimsy, or too hard to even be made into knots. He sighed, slapping his tail on the water in frustration, looking at the pathetic excuse for satchels lying next to him.

He was too busy sulking to notice splashing behind him. If he had heard the noise then he would have long ago dived into the ocean.

"Ah… Hello?" Harry froze in fear, that voice was coming from behind him. It took a moment but then his instinct kicked in.

_Swim!_

"Wait!"

Harry swam for his life, he couldn't believe he didn't hear Malfoy sneak up on him! What if the boy saw his face! Harry hid behind a coral reef to look up at the column of rock that he was recently laying on. Thankfully, no one was swimming after him.

Harry knew he should have kept swimming, every bone in his body told him to keep swimming until he was safely back at home. But something in Malfoy's voice as he kept calling for him, made him rethink that plan.

He mentally slapped himself as he took cover behind a taller rock than the one Malfoy was occupying.

"I didn't mean to scare you! Please come back!" Harry watched Draco huff and sit down Indian style on the rock.

"Great, just great, the person I wanted to thank swam off and now my sunglasses are somewhere on the ocean floor. The defeated form didn't seem to suit Malfoy's personality. Harry mentally sighed and swam off, or he would have, but he spotted the pair of sunglasses Malfoy was talking about earlier.

_Don't even think about it Potter! Don't!_

Ignoring his inner voice, he swam up to the surface as quietly as he could, making sure Malfoy had his back turned and placed the sunglasses carefully on the wet rock. He made sure as he submerged back into the sea that a splash was made to get Malfoy's attention. With his good deed done, he decide that it was finally time to head back home.

He was definitely not going to be letting Sirius in on his adventure today.

 

* * *

 

 

Severus leaned on the couch, breathing heavily. He had placed the huge half conscious dog on his couch. He didn't care for the possibility of bloodstains, he needed to purchase a new one for a while now. He moved to gather supplies, dumping them on the living room table.

"Alright, I know this will hurt but I need to find the source of the bleeding." The dog whined in pain and tried to take in his leg from Severus strong hold.

"Looks like a bullet hit your thigh," Severus moved the matted fur aside to get a better view. Gleaming in the light was the bullet.

"It's lodged in there, doesn't look too deep, I should be able to reach it with some tweezers." Severus dipped the tweezers in some alcohol, disinfecting them. Gripping the leg firmly and avoiding a snap of teeth, he inserted the tweezers in the wound and quickly latched on the bullet, pulling out in one go. Severus looked up at his patient the poor beast had lost conscious from the pain.

Looking at the wound closely he confirmed it was going to have to be stitched up. He looked through his medical kit and found a sterile needle, it wouldn't do for the dog to have an infection.

Well, infection was the least of his worries at the moment.

Not when the dog was glowing in front of his very eyes. The dog form glowed bright making him close his eyes, for fear of going blind. The light show ended quick enough and he was able to open his eyes at last. Or perhaps he should have kept them closed.

Now instead of a dog there was a man on his couch.

A naked man.

One that looked just like Sirius Black.


	8. Chapter 8

Severus didn't know if he should be angry or shocked about the man who was currently lying unconscious on his couch.

_He was the dog!_

_Sirius Black was the dog!_

This thought kept repeating in his mind as some sort of mantra. He was broken out of this repetitive rant by a pained groan. Severus shook his head to clear it. He could find out later why Sirius Black was on his couch. Right now there was a there was a patient on his couch at risk of bleeding to death.

 

* * *

Harry rushed into his house and tried to remove all evidence that he had been outside. He stripped back into his shorts and t-shirt and threw himself into the bed. Just as he snuggled into his pillow he heard the doorbell ring.

This was odd.

Harry wasn't expecting company and if it was Sirius he would have just used his keys.

The door bell continued to ring, almost desperately.

"I'm coming!" Harry yelled yanking the door open, impatiently. Anger disappeared from Harry's face and a clear expression of shock took over. He certainly was not expecting to see Professor Snape on his door step.

"Proffessor?" Harry oogled the pale man and he bundle he was carrying. Snape adjusted the large cloth covered bundle in his arm allowing the hood to fall back, revealing Sirius. If the Professor at his door step wasn't astonishing enough to Harry, then the Professor carrying his unconscious godfather certainly is.

"Well? Are you going to let us in? Or stand there with your mouth open to catch flies?"

Harry stepped back, allowing the professor to step into the house.

"What happened?" Harry closed the front door and took a peak at Sirius's peaceful face.

"First, lead me to his room, your godfather is not exactly feather light." Snape shifted his arms to get a better grip on his heavy package.

"This way…" Harry led Snape to Sirius room. It was nothing, to what Snape imagined. He would have figured that Black would have had a room in loud colors, like gold or red. But, instead, the headboard and dresser were made of dark brown wood. The walls were painted a medium blue that contrasted well with the dark blue color of the bed sheets.

"I pulled the sheets down, Professor, I think you can lay him on the bed now." Potter was looking at Snape strangely, making the pale man uncomfortable.

Snape coughed. "Yes, I suppose so." Snape carefully laid Sirius on the bed, adjusting the cloak so it wouldn't slip off and reveal the naked skin underneath.

As Severus moved away, he was stopped by a firm grip on his sleeve.

Harry watched as Snape looked at Sirius's face with uncertainty and gently removed the lax grip from his sleeve. Sirius lips moved a bit almost making a frown. Sirius shifted his head a bit making his long hair cover his face. Snape ever so carefully pushed the hair back to behind Sirius's ear.

Harry tried to hold back an impish smile. The picture those two made was just adorable!

Snape straightened and walked back to where Harry was standing in the doorway. He glared when he saw that Harry was giving him a lopsided grin.

"We need to talk this out in the living room."

* * *

 

Sirius groaned, his leg hurt like hell.

"Ow…"

"Don't even try to sit up. If your stitches rip, you'll have to fix yourself up. I refuse to sew you up twice." Sirius pain hazed eyes locked on to the source.

"Snape?" Sirius looked around his room in confusion before his memories caught up with him.

"How did I even get here?" Sirius asked nervously. Snape calmly placed a chair next to the bed and took a seat.

"I carried you, which is no easy feat. You are not exactly light." Sirius blushed and stared at the ceiling to avoid looking at Snape's penetrating gaze.

"Thanks for carrying me here…uh…where is Harry? " Snape crossed his arms in irritation.

"Potter is in is room and refuses to tell me what you are. He thought it best that you explain to me what you are. Now, enough stalling, Black, I want to know why you were out there on the street and as a dog no less."

"I had really hoped you wouldn't find out."

"Well, I did and since your godson refuses to tell me what exactly is going on, I have to get my answers from you." Snape sneered. Sirius pushed himself up with the palm of his hands, or at least tried to. Snape sighed, frustrated and walked over to help.

Severus propped the pillow against the headboard and placed his arms underneath Sirius's shoulders and lifted him so would be able to lean on the pillow. Sirius grasped the back of Severus's shirt awkwardly. He was sure that his face was a nice shade of red at the moment.

With Sirius now comfortably sitting up in the bed, Snape sat back in his chair, to wait for his much needed explanation.

"Well… I am just going to say this, bluntly. I am an Animagus. I have been since I was 15." Sirius blurted out.

"So, just with the mermaid legends, it seems that the Animagus legends are also true. Tell me, who else knows this secret?" Snape asked this, as if this was an everyday occurrence, which to him certainly seemed like it. First, it was Lily and now it was Black telling him he was some sort magical creature.

"Just Harry and now …you." Sirius was fidgeting, some of it was from the pain of his leg, the other was from the stare that Snape was giving him.

"Did Potter Senior ever know of your secret?" Snape questioned.

"Yes… by accident. I didn't have very good control of my abilities when I was younger. I was upset at one time and ran off, I ended up shifting, and James saw everything." Sirius laughed at the memory.

"I had just recently learned of my gift. At that time my control was horrible. I didn't have the greatest of control when I was calm and it was even worse when I was upset or angry. I ended up changing. James had followed me to try and talk to me and ended up seeing me change into my dog form. I turned around and noticed he was there."

"I immediately tried to act like a normal dog would and even trotted over to sniff him but he laughed and told me the jig was up and that he had seen me change. I was at first, shocked, but I eventually changed back in front of him anyway. He gave me a hug and told me now it made sense as to why I acted like a dog." Sirius stared at his palms admiring the creases in them, waiting for Snape to say something.

"Well, it seems my life was never meant for being normal. From mermaids to people turning into dogs, it looks like there is no end to it. What is the next thing you are going to tell me? That fairies exist and all I need to do is step into a mushroom circle?"

"Mushroom circles are just silly. But we believe that Luna Lovegood may have some Fae blood in her." Sirius pointed out in a matter of fact.

"Great…" Snape spoke sarcastically.

* * *

 

Severus made sure Sirius was asleep before silently sneaking out of the room. He could see Potter sitting on the couch of the T.V. absently watching whatever show he had on.

"Potter, I'll be heading home for a bit. I need to you to go in there and watch Black to make sure he doesn't move or aggravate his wound."

"You're coming back?" Harry asked inquisitively.

"I want to make sure your dog father doesn't end up with infections tonight. I need my work clothes for tomorrow and toiletries. Unless, perhaps, you have something in my size?" Snape raised an eyebrow.

"You may be taller than Sirius, but he may have bigger clothes at the back of his closet."

Snape's eyebrow twitched. "That was a rhetorical question. I prefer my own clothes, thank you. Now go watch your godfather, I will be back in an hour."

 

* * *

"Well this is the guest bed room." Harry opened the door, revealing a simple room. It had a queen sized bed with beige covers and a darkly colored bed frame and night tables. There was a small closet to hang clothes and a bathroom entrance on the opposite wall.

Snape lifted his suitcase on top of the bed. He had gone home and returned within the hour after packing what he would need for the night and the following day.

"Professor, are you sure you want to stay? Just tell me what I need to watch out for and I can handle it." Harry fidgeted from his spot in the doorway.

"I am sure you are perfectly capable of taking care of your godfather, but that fool will pick at his own stitches if not watched properly. Though the pain killers I gave him will knock him out for the rest of the night. I need to make sure he doesn't develop any infections throughout the night." Snape placed his pajamas along with his toothbrush and toothpaste on the bed.

"I will wake you up around one in the morning for your shift. That way I can have at least a few hours of sleep before classes."

"Alright professor, if you need anything you know where my room is." Harry left Snape to his own devices. Snape dressed himself for the night and walked back silently into Black's room.

Black had moved from the position he was supposed to be in and was now lying awkwardly on his front. Snape sighed in frustration and went to move the man so he was at least lying on his side. In the movement Black seemed to gain himself to consciousness to look at Snape. Severus could tell that the man was still heavily under. Fuzzy sleep filled eyes looked up and Black smiled, a loopy half smile.

"Your cute…I…-ways…liked…your… lips…so adorable…when bite…them… you think." Black mumbled a few things and fell back asleep, leaving Snape blushing like mad. Half the thing the man said didn't make sense but the first few words he had caught on.

Black had called him _**cute.**_

The man may be under pain killers and of course they may have kissed before but _still_ , Black had called him _**cute!**_

Snape sat in his chair in shock and stayed like that till it was time for Potter's shift.

 

* * *

 

Harry was happy to be walking the school hallways again. Sirius in an act of father love and with the pain medication he was under, made Harry stay home till the following Monday. He hated being stuck at home with nothing to do, though this time he had to make sure Sirius wouldn't pick at his stitches under the pain killers.

Half the time the man kept mumbling about random things that made no sense.

It reminded him of Luna, funnily enough.

"Ahh…glad to be back in school?" Harry turned around and saw Luna, wearing her usual bottle cap necklace.

"Luna!" Harry gave her a big hug. " Oh yes, I am excited to be finally allowed out of the house." Harry walked with Luna to their next class. Luna hugged her book to her chest and looked at Harry with one of those dreamy looks on her face.

"What are you looking at?" Harry rubbed his face, wondering if he had any left over food on his face. Luna twirled herself in front of Harry to stop his steps.

"Did something happen?" Luna asked tilting her head to the side. Harry wished he could answer that question, he wanted to tell Luna about him being discovered, but he knew he wasn't ready to tell Luna secret just yet.

"Harry!" Harry turned around to whoever called him, in this case it was Draco.

"Long time no see, Draco." Harry beamed the blonde a smile.

"Feeling better?"

"I felt fine long ago, but Siri is very over protective. I managed to escape this morning." Harry gave Draco a wide smile.

"First person I have seen to actually want to be in school." Draco chuckled before looking at his watch.

"I better get to class. Maybe I'll see you both at lunch?" Draco shouldered his bag.

"Sure. See you then." Harry waved Draco goodbye and turned back to Luna.

"Hmmm… like Draco said, we better get to class. I need to explain to the teacher why my homework has stains. He wasn't happy last time I made a puppy design out of the coffee stains."

"Wait a second… you used coffee to make a puppy looking stain on your homework? Why?"

"It made doing homework soo much more fun, of course!" Luna giggled and skipped towards class leaving Harry to shake his head and follow.

* * *

 

"How is it that you can look at a math problem and know the answer and not remember who the Allied Powers were?" Harry asked, his head laid back on his computer chair as he swung it around. Luna was lying on his bed face down with her arms listlessly on her sides. She mumbled something into the bed covers.

"Luna, I can't hear you." Harry raised his head to look over at Luna. The blonde raised her head and looked in his direction.

"Math is easy, the answer is there and you have everything you need to get it. Though with history, you absolutely must know the answer."

"Why don't you just watch Hetalia? It should help you to at least get your countries right." Harry chuckled at the idea. Luna moved so she could lie on her back and stare straight at the ceiling.

"You guys remind me of Germany and Italy." Luna twirled a piece of her hair her voice as airy as ever.

"Luna, what are you babbling about?" Harry stopped his chair twirling. Luna pointed up the ceiling and swayed her arm.

"You both even have the similar color hair. If you want I can do that weird cowlick Italy has, do you have any hair gel?" Harry was at an absolute loss at what Luna was trying to say.

Same color hair?

Harry knew he was Italy but who was the person Luna was referring to as Germany? Harry went through his mental files trying to find someone that was a blonde. It wasn't hard since Harry didn't know many blondes aside from Luna.

Unless…

"Are you speaking about Draco?" Luna hand stopped doing circles in the air and pointed straight at Harry.

"Draco? You have got to be kidding me." The only answer Harry got from Luna was the ending theme song of Hetalia being sung.

"Luna! We are nothing like Italy and Germany. Now stop that infuriating song!" Luna only sung it louder and she went to gather her stuff.

Harry followed the singing girl out to the living room where Professor Snape and Sirius where playing a game of chess. Luna skipped over to the men still singing the odd song. She reached into her backpack and tossed a handful of loose post -its at the pair.

Luna paused her singing and took a deep breath as if preparing round two.

"Well, it's time for me to go." Luna announced and hugged the stunned Harry before waltzing out the door.

"Harry did Luna get into your secret stash of sour gummy worms?" Sirius fought to free himself from the sticky pieces of paper.

"I made sure to hide them this time." Harry snickered as he walked by watching both males struggle to free themselves from the bright post-its.

"Well good luck with your situation there. While your doing that I am going for a swim." Harry dashed out to the backyard before Sirius could protest.

"Wait a sec-" Sirius moved to go after Harry, but was stopped with a hand on his chest. Sirius looked up at Severus.

"Just let him go, besides, if you run after him on that leg you will end up tearing up your stitches." Severus reached up to where Sirius had a bright orange Post-It on top of his head.

"Besides no matter how adorable you look covered in Post-its, I doubt you would want to be seen in them in public." Snape smirked as Sirius blushed and fumbled around blindly for the bright pieces of paper stuck to his hair.

"You look quite the sight yourself." Sirius pouted and grabbed a random piece of paper from Severus's own hair.

"Well, I am thirsty, would you like some lemonade?" Sirius carefully stood and limped his way to the kitchen.

"Wait." Snape stood and met up with Sirius.

" Is there something wrong?" Sirius's face turned pink as the taller man physically got closer so they were touching chest to chest and reached an arm behind him. Severus's ruffled the back of Sirius shirt, stirring odd sensations from the blue eyed man. Severus stepped back and displayed a pink Post-It.

"You had it stuck on the back of shirt." Severus handed the paper to Sirius.

"Oh right," Sirius laughed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

 


	9. Chapter 9

Draco drove his small boat towards Mako Island. Last night, he did research on mermaids to find out all he could about them, but the pictures and the little information he found on the internet didn't do it justice.

Draco imagined the tan lean back that merged with the green tail. The thick black wet hair sticking to the delicate neck. He couldn't seem to get the creature out of his head.

Draco put on his flippers and grabbed his diving mask and snorkel. He doubted he would see the merman around the shore so soon so Draco figured his best bet was to search underwater. Thankfully, the weather was ideal and he could try and swim a short distance from the boat.

Angelfish swam by him uncaring to the human swimming amongst them. Draco swam aimlessly marveling the site of the various bright colored fish swimming around the reef. Draco swam around the reef until he spotted a Regal Tang and he decided to stay and watch it eat algae.

A random cloud of sand floated over toward Draco temporarily blocking his vision. Draco took a quick look of his surroundings to ensure no sharks were swimming around. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a flash of green. Draco swam closer, using the coral to remain hidden.

_Could it possibly be?_

Draco's heart beat sped up thumping itself against his chest in anticipation. Draco carefully lifted his head above the coral and saw what he had been hoping to see all day.

He saw his merman, lying on the sandy bottom, his sparkling green tail fin slapping the floor lazily. His black hair was floating in dark waves blocking the merman's face.

Draco could not believe his luck. He watched in fascination as the merman waved away a group of bright yellow fish from his hair. Draco was so close yet so far from the creature that has been haunting his dreams. Draco restrained himself from swimming up to the merman. After the last time when he approached the merman, he didn't doubt about getting the same reaction.

Reluctantly, because of lack of air, Draco had to surface. Gathering another deep breath, Draco dove underwater once more hoping the merman would still be there. He spotted the mythical creature, floating in the water examining his own tail fin. He appeared to show all signs of grooming it, scratching at random spots.

Despite the far distance, Draco could see random green shiny bits decorating the merman's back and arms. The merman finished his grooming and propelled himself to the surface. Draco ducked quickly behind the coral patch he was using so he wouldn't be spotted.

As quickly as the merman rose to the surface, he dove back into the ocean. The movement was almost dolphin like. Perhaps mermen needed air to breath? Draco put that mental note aside to jot down later. Draco stilled and watched as the sea creature swam down to the sandy bottom and grabbed something, before swimming toward the shore.

Draco followed at a fair distance hoping not to loose the merman. Unfortunately, Draco had to surface for another breath, but just before he surfaced he managed to see the green tail fin enter a cove.

Draco looked at his watch and saw how late it was. He grumbled but it was time to start heading back home especially with the boat quite a distance away. The merman would have to wait for another day.

As he swam back to his boat Draco passed by the spot where the merman had groomed himself. Draco was able to get to the bottom as the area wasn't deep. He did a quick scan of the bottom and spotted a glimmer of green.

_A scale!_

Quickly, Draco grabbed the piece and continued in the direction of his boat.

As Draco packed up his equipment he thought about what he had seen today. Despite making the biggest discovery of his life, Draco didn't feel like sharing it with the world. He didn't even want to share this secret with his friends.

He brought the scale up to the sunlight. It glimmered beautifully in different shades of green. It was thin looking but didn't bend very easily. It felt like any other fish scale really, just a bit bigger than most.

Draco was determined to keep this secret to himself. Draco looked behind him as the island became smaller and smiled. His secret merman appears to hang around Mako Island. Maybe the merman even lived in that cove he spotted it going in earlier.

Tomorrow was another day after all.

 

* * *

 

 

" Luna, I thought we were going to the skate park?" Harry removed his shoes. It wouldn't do to have sand in his sneakers.

"That was last week. This week I want to go to the beach." Luna dropped her polka dotted bag on the sand and stripped out of her shorts. She wore a neon orange one piece with a sunflower print on front.

"Why didn't you tell me we were going to the beach? I could have worn a bathing suit." Harry helped the girl unpack the blanket from her bag.

"I could have." Luna knew about Harry's 'phobia' of swimming. He wouldn't put his feet anywhere near the ocean, not that she knew the true reason behind his 'phobia'.

"It wouldn't have made a difference." Harry resigned and helped put rocks on the corner of their blankets to prevent them from flying with the wind.

"At least, take off your shirt and sun bathe. I am waiting for some guests to arrive." Luna adjusted her pink sunglasses and laid down on a blanket.

"Who else is coming?" Harry shed his shirt and sat next to Luna. Luna crossed her legs and nonchalantly pointed to the left. Coming towards them were Blaise and Draco carrying their own beach supplies.

"Potter! Lovegood! Glad to see you could make it." Blaise plopped his bag next their beach spot while Draco just stood quietly next to the louder male. Blaise wore a pair of pale yellow swim trunks and a pair of white rimmed sunglasses in the bridge of his nose.

"I was dragged." Draco spoke as he kicked off his flip flops and took a seat next to Harry. Draco wore a simple blue pair of swim trunks.

"As was I. You think they did this on purpose?" Harry leaned back and looked Luna. Luna must have sensed his eyes on her and looked up. She grinned at him and tossed him a towel.

"That is certainly my hypothesis." Draco narrowed his eyes at his friend. Harry took this moment to observe a shirtless Draco. Draco reached for the towel and Harry's eyes went to the flexing arm muscles. The blonde was muscled and lean.

Harry had to refrain from staring down Draco's six pack abs as the blonde adjusted the towel on the sand beneath himself. Harry didn't want to risk to see if his shorts were meant to hide boners.

"Well, I am bored already, how about a swim?" Blaise stood up and stretched. Luna was already running towards the sea, leaving them behind.

"We just arrived." Draco argued, but stood as well. "Oh well, it's too hot to stay out here all day. Harry, you coming?" Draco extended his hand out.

"I can't. I will watch you guys from one the rocks. You go have fun." Draco raised an eyebrow but followed his friend toward the shore. Harry chose a dry rock not far from shore to watch them have fun.

-20 minutes later-

"Hey, Luna, why doesn't Harry want to join us?" Draco asked the blonde, who was now floating on her back.

"Harry is afraid of the water." Luna answered simply. Draco watched the blonde do a back stroke toward Blaise. Draco looked to where Harry was doodling in the sand with a stick. Draco swam towards the shore.

"What are you drawing?" Draco asked as he sat down next to Harry. Harry scooted away from him a bit, trying to avoid getting splashed.

"I was trying to draw a dog." Draco looked at the pitiful doodle.

"It looks more like a crab to me." Harry and Draco burst out laughing. Harry had to force himself to calm down or else he would cry on himself.

"Your laughter is beautiful." Draco complimented Harry. It took Harry a moment to register what he had just heard. Harry could practically feel his face turn red.

"You're cute when you blush too." Draco smirked at how red Harry was becoming at his words.

"You're teasing me. Stop it."

"I am just telling the truth." Draco leaned back on his palms and looked out to sea. "I really like you Harry Potter. Will you go out with me?" Draco looked back towards Harry.

Harry bit his lip for a moment. He really liked Draco, but would he want to risk having a relationship?

"Yes." Harry whispered. Draco leaned in, as he didn't hear the response.

"Yes, I will go out with you Draco Malfoy." Draco shouted out in joy and adjusted himself so he sat Indian style on the rock.

"How about we have lunch at the Hogshead tomorrow?"Draco enthusiastically asked.

"We have a date." Harry smiled sweetly, his hair blocking Draco's view of his eyes. Draco reached out to move Harry's hair off to the side. Harry's green eyes widened as the wet hand grazed his cheek.

"I have to go." Harry jumped off the rock and ran off before Draco could say another word. Draco watched as Harry disappeared behind a patch of giant rocks that were on the edge of the sea's shore.

"Hey, where's Harry?" Luna walked over towards Draco.

"He said he had to go and ran off into the ocean." Draco looked to where he saw Harry last.

"Ah. He does that from time to time." Luna wrung her hair out.

"I thought you said he was afraid of water?" Draco asked, suspicious.

"He is afraid of water. Most of the time." Luna gave him a 'duh' look.

"Really…." Draco looked down at his hand with a curious expression on his face.


	10. Chapter 10

Draco swam though the ocean admiring the brightly colored fish by the coral. He looked around his surroundings and noticed that he was near Mako Island. Draco spotted is boat not far off from his current location.

_Draco had no diving suit on but he didn't feel frightened. In fact, he felt quite safe in the open ocean. There was a rush of water as something darted past him. Draco turned around and saw his merman just floating a short distance from himself._

_His back was to him, just like the first time Draco saw him. Draco laughed, allowing air bubbles to escape and hurried to catch him. His merman turned slightly to give him a mischievous smile but the black hair was obscuring his face. His merman extended his hand and Draco reached his to grasp the hand. Draco's fingertips were almost there…._

_**Beep!** _

_**Beep!** _

_**Beep!** _

Draco eyes snapped open. Draco watched the ceiling fan blades turn. This was disappointing. It was all just a dream. An almost surreal dream which had involved the one thing he wanted to touch most. Draco brought his hand up so he could look at his fingers.

Damn, did he want to touch those green luminescent scales. Despite having a single piece in his possession it wasn't enough. He wanted his hand to touch the actual creature it belonged to.

Draco sat up at the edge of the bed, trying to blink sleep away. He stretched and looked to where he had placed the green scale. As soon as he got home he had acquired a jar and filled it up with seawater. The blonde dropped the scale in the jar and placed it on the corner of his desk so he could admire it later.

It wasn't there.

Draco quickly scanned his room, but he didn't see his jar.

"Mother!" Draco rushed out the door and to the dining room where he knew for sure his mother was at this early in the morning.

"Draco, darling, what is with the racket so early in the morning?" Mrs. Malfoy was in the middle of eating her scone when her son barged in, still in his sleep wear.

"Mother, do you know what happened to the jar that was at my desk?"

"Ah, yes. Millie informed me she had knocked over a jar by accident when she was vacuuming. I just told her to clean up the mess and leave the contents of it on the desk. Why do you ask?"

Draco ran a frustrated hand through his blonde locks. "Nothing I over reacted. I'm off to go look for it. Sorry to disturb you during your meal. I'll get changed now."

"I wouldn't worry about it. It was a nice change to see my little boy in just his boxers burst in during breakfast. If your father wasn't on his business trip I am sure he would be rolling on the floor laughing from the scene you just made." Mrs. Malfoy giggled.

Draco blushed. "Whatever." Draco walked out and back to the direction of his room. Thankfully no one else saw him in his boxers on his way back.

Draco sighed and closed his bedroom door behind him. Draco thought he should start on his thorough search of the desk. Perhaps the scale was underneath one of his school papers. He started where he last seen the jar. That was when he noticed it. His lightly colored desk had a patch that was slightly off. Draco reached out to touch it and he had to pull back. That patch felt _weird_.

With closer inspection he could recognize the shape to be that similar to the scale. Bracing himself for the weird sensation, Draco reached out to touch the spot. He was able to pick it up and brought the scale shaped object closer to inspect it. It flopped and coiled. The sensation felt just like when his skin had peeled after a bad sunburn.

...Skin?

Draco blanked. Could his scale really have turned into a piece of _human flesh?_ Draco grimaced at the skin between his fingers. It was dry and well, fleshy. Draco was completely disgusted and yet the whole thing was fascinating.

Could mermaids walk on land? Trade their legs for a tail when they are dry? Live like any normal human? Is that why there are never any recorded sightings?

Draco dropped to his chair still holding the piece of flesh. The shock passed and his brain began to process what was occurring. Perhaps if the flesh gets wet again it can turn to a scale? Draco carefully dropped the skin back on his desk and rushed into his bathroom. He didn't bother with a cup and just used his cupped hands to gather up some water from the sink. The blonde walked swiftly back and let go of his carefully held water on top of the skin, not caring about the damage to his wooden desk.

At first he thought it was all for naught and suddenly the flesh morphed and twisted back into his scale. Draco did nothing, but just stared gaping at the new discovery. The blonde fingers felt the scale and it felt nothing like when he held the bit flesh.

It was just like before… a scale.

 

* * *

 

 

Draco looked at the exquisite picture sitting across from him. Harry was dressed in a nice green silk shirt and tight black jeans. His hair was looked a little less windblown.

"You look handsome today." Draco smiled as Harry cheeks tinged pink. They were sitting in a booth at the Hogshead. They just ordered their drink and were waiting on Madame Rosemerta to come back.

"I think you are looking quite dashing yourself Draco." Harry looked down at a random defect on the wooden table.

"One strawberry smoothie and one lemon iced tea." Madame Rosmerta came back with their drinks placing the reddish one in front of Harry and other in front of Draco.

Harry took a sip. "I always love their smoothie. They blend them just right."

"So Harry, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

"Well, my parents died in a car accident when I was a year old. I spent some time in foster care. I didn't know I had a godfather until I was 10. He then adopted me right away when he discovered where I was."

"Why didn't he adopt you sooner? Why wait till you were 10?" Draco asked curiously. Harry swirled his drink in deep thought.

"That's a tough one. Sirius was actually incarcerated right after my parents died from false accusations of murder. The charges were from planting a bomb that had killed twelve people. Truth was he was just at the wrong place at the wrong time. Seven years later they found the man who Sirius swore had thrown the bomb and one of the ones who were on the list of the dead. You can imagine how fast the system released Sirius."

"I still remember doing the gardening out back when I heard yelling coming from the inside. I carefully walk in and I see this older man being yelled at by Miss Petunia, my foster mother at the time. The moment Sirius saw me, he smiled and introduced himself. It was when he saw the condition of my recently injured wrist and the bruise on my face, did he look like a rabid dog. He gave Miss Petunia a good tongue lashing and almost dragged me out of the house. The foster family social services had put me with were not kind people. If I didn't finish something fast enough I would get a beating." Harry scratched his hand, his eyes looking kind of distant.

"Immediately, I was placed in the care of Sirius and I was told was my "guardian". For the next few days I talked to police officers and social services. Things were shaky at first, we were still getting used to each other. But between hospital visits and Sirius keeping me from mopping the kitchen one too many times, I discovered that Sirius really did care and we got along splendidly." Draco reached out to grab Harry's hands in silent support.

"What about you Draco? How is your family?"

"I am an only child. It's just me, mother and father. Mother stays at home, but father is always leaving for one business trip or another, though he always tries to be here on the weekends. And if he is not, he does Skype when he can. Father taught me how to swim, how to drive, sports and other such things."

"Must be nice to have parents that care for you." Harry looked forlorn as he gazed on his glass.

"So Harry what happened the other day? You didn't want to swim with us and then suddenly you go running into the ocean." Draco decided to change the subject.

"I don't like the ocean. Yesterday… I just got so excited that I decided to run through the rocks on shore." Harry lied through his teeth, hoping Draco would drop it.

The blonde could sense that there was more to what Harry was telling him, but he left it be.

"Okay! Two burgers and fries." Madame Rosmerta came back with their meals. She set the plates down but her hand had accidently knocked over Draco's cup. It's contents were splattered and Draco could see Harry desperately dabbing the splashes he received.

"Oh dear, let's move you all to a different table while I clean up this one." Madame Rosmerta quickly picked up their plates and placed them in a booth near a window. Draco watched as Harry looked at the spilled beverage in horror and he quickly hopped over to the new table.

Draco followed, but at a much slower pace. It got him curious, what did Harry have against liquids in general? It was like he was terrified of them. He put it in his mental notebook to look into later. For now, he was going to enjoy his date with the cute brunette.

 

* * *

 

Harry gazed at the rocky ceiling in front of him. After his date he wanted to spend time alone on Mako. Sirius wouldn't be home for at least another hour, which gave him plenty of time for a swim. Being so close to transforming Harry had gotten quite a bit of a scare today. Harry blushed as he thought of the peck of the cheek he gave Draco as they said goodbye.

Harry scratched his tail, noticing that his new scales were coming in. Each year he shed his old scales and would do so until adulthood. And each year his scales became more exotic in color. His tail was getting brighter in green and there were some random colors that popped up in a scale or two. He had a few teal and blue scales showing now.

But until he 'molts' his tail would be looking ghastly. It was already turning a dull sickly color. His change was like a snakes but, sadly the process wasn't over in one go. He would see the new scales peeking through the dull older scales. His tail was all patchy with murky pale green ones and the brighter newer ones. His fin already had a small trail of peeling scales from it. Harry knew better not to peel that off. He learned his pain filled lesson when he pulled at it too soon.

Harry slapped his tail on the shallow surface lazily as he floated along the surface. It would seem that Harry would be stuck in the backyard pool for the next two weeks. He couldn't swim properly when he was going through this change, making this situation dangerous.

Harry took a deep breath and let his body drop below the surface. He sighed as the cool liquid soothed his tail, it was best not to be dry more than necessary or it would hinder his ' molting'. Harry turned and at a much slower pace than he usually would, he swam back to his house.

 

* * *

 

Draco sat in his boat with his chin resting in his hand. His date ended splendidly, though they didn't kiss goodbye, Harry gave him a peck on the cheek and they promised to have another date next Saturday. Draco smiled at the how red Harry had gotten afterwards and run off into the direction of his house. After words Draco felt restless and didn't want to head home just yet. It was still early in the afternoon and he had time to go out to Mako Island.

Draco went out in the smaller boat his parents owned instead of one of the smaller Yachts. He could come a little closer to the island without bringing much attention to himself. Draco wanted to explore to see if there was a way through land into the cave. Despite the far distance from where he beached his boat, the trip wasn't too far. The island wasn't that big at all despite its deceiving size at a distance. Within half an hour he made to the back of the cave and managed to find a narrow passageway inside.

The breeze coming in was faint and the ceiling reflected the water below. The caves shore had jagged rocks just like on the beach, which were perfect to hide Draco from sight.

And hide he did, when he picked up the faint sounds of splashing. Draco cautiously peaked around the current rock he was hiding behind. He could see a figure floating in the water, and a large fin lazily splashed the water. Draco bit his lips so he wouldn't yell out in his excitement. He could see the merman scratching his tail for a bit, before diving into the deeper water below.

Draco's eyebrow's furrowed. The merman's tail looked sickly and dull, nothing like when he had first seen him, the tail those times were vivid green. Was his merman sick? Could mermen even get sick? Draco ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. He knew next to nothing about mermaids and even if he did know something he could do to help, he doubted his merman would even let him near. Draco watched the surface for a few more minutes before he decided he should go back home for the day.

He hoped his merman would be alright.

* * *

 

Sirius knew something was wrong when Harry came back, the boy looked tired.

"How was your date?" Sirius asked worried.

Harry smiled. " It was great! We are going out again next weekend!" Sirius and Harry sat on the couch while Harry retold his first date, though Harry did not mention the slight incident that happened.

"I was worried at first about this Draco, but he seems like a nice kid." Sirius hugged Harry. "I want you to be happy, but be careful okay?"

"Okay." Harry bit his lips nervously, he was nervous about telling Sirius what was going on with him.

"What is it Harry?"

"My scales are changing again."

"I'll get the pool ready for you." Sirius was already heading to the direction of the pool. "I need to get your pool chair and-"

"Sirius, we have done the same thing year after year. No need to panic, why don't you invite Professor Snape over while I soak in the pool. We can make it a picnic!"

"Invite Severus for a picnic?"

"Why not? I need to be in water as much as I can and he knows our secret. How about you invite him tomorrow after school?"

Sirius bit his lip trying to find an excuse, but upon seeing Harry's face he gave up. "Fine." Sirius turned to grab the phone.

"Maybe you two can make it some sort of a date?" Harry grinned as Sirius fumbled with the phone.

* * *

 

Its been two excruciatingly long weeks and Draco has yet to see his merman again. Perhaps the disappearance had something to do with his tail? Maybe he was sick and needed to hide for a bit.

"Draco? You okay?"

Draco was snapped out of his deep thoughts. "Yeah I'm fine just thinking of stuff. Sorry." He was on a date with Harry and now felt guilty for ignoring him. Draco pecked Harry on his cheek as an apology. Harry accepted it no wanting to pressure him.

"What do you think of this necklace?" Harry held up a green colored puka necklace that one of the street vendors was selling. It had very unique coloring to it, showing almost every shade of green in the necklace. In the center was one big white round bead.

"Oh, that one is nice." Draco took it in his own hands to get a closer look.

"Good choice there." The old lady behind the counter picked up one that was the opposite colors of the one Draco had in his hand, the necklace was white and the center bead was emerald green. " They will suit you both well. Not many pick up these." She grabbed the green one from Draco's hands and she handed him the white one while she gave Harry back the green one.

"Colors match better. $15 for both. It's a steal." The old lady bargained with them in her rough accent.

"Okay, we will take them." Draco pulled out the exact amount and handed it to the vendor.

"Draco, you don't have to. I just thought it was pretty that's all." Harry began to complain, but Draco would have none of it.

"Nonsense, I want to."

"Would you like a bag?" The old lady asked.

"No thank you, we will just wear them from here. Harry, I'll put yours on for you." Harry turned his back towards Draco and they exchanged necklaces. Draco easily clasped the green one around Harry's neck.

"There." Harry turned back around and showed off his new necklace. "It brings out your eyes." Draco placed a chaste kiss on the Harry's lips.

"My turn." Harry used his pointer finger to make a swirling motion and Draco complied. As soon as the clasp closed, Draco felt a spark. He had no idea what it was, but his body felt warm. He looked over at Harry, who appeared confused and was absently touching his necklace.

"Ah, yes. Good choice, Very good choice. You two meant to be. Stay strong. Trust in each other." The old lady, whose accent they still couldn't pin point, smiled wide. "Time to go. Rain coming."

Harry looked up at the grey sky and panicked. "I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow at school?" Harry chastely kissed Draco on the lips.

"I can drive you home you know."

"It's alright Draco I don't live far and the scenery is nice through the marina sidewalks." Harry smiled at Draco, disarming him from questioning it further.

"Okay, be safe, text me when you get home." Draco kissed Harry back and watched the boy turn and run to the direction of his house. There was something familiar as he watched Harry figure off the distance. He just couldn't quite place it.


End file.
